Quality assurance: measuring its effect on a busy obstetric service.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of establishing a new quality assurance program in obstetrics at a large teaching hospital. Methods: Seven obstetric clinical indicators were selected. After the computerized data base identified the patients as outliers from these indicators, the medical record of each patient was reviewed. Each case was presented to the nine-member committee, which made recommendations or actions for changes or improvement in patient care. The number of patients coming to review and the number of clinical indicators from the year before the program were compared to the results of the second year of the program